This invention relates to a connecting element for sheet piles sheet piles extending at an angle to each other. The connecting element has a central web strip with an upper hook strip and a lower hook strip extending outward on the two longitudinal edges thereof. The hook strips point with their curvature in opposite directions and are adapted to engage corresponding hook strips of the shet piles to be connected.
Such connecting elements are known in a plurality of shapes and designs; they are used for interconnecting sheet piles of sheet-pile walls, in particular for interconnecting two abutting sheet piles of sheet-pile walls extending at an angle to each other.
A known connecting element, designated corner section 20, for connecting the sheet piles of sheet-pile walls extending at a 90.degree. angle to each other has approximately an S-section and a substantially straight web strip with two oppositely directed hook strips extending on the two sides thereof. One of the hook strips is formed smaller than the other; both engage corresponding hook strips of the sheet piles to be connected.
This element can only be used for connecting sheet piles extending at a 90.degree. angle to each other. When the connecting elements are driven, however, it sometimes happens that the smaller of the hook strips jumps out of the corresponding hook strip of the sheet pile to be connected so that--if this is noticed at all--work must be interrupted and started again.
A further connecting element, designated a delta and described in DE-OS 20 18 199, again has a small hook strip on one side of a web strip and a larger hook strip of sickle-shaped cross section on the other side thereof. This section has the advantage that one can connect sheet piles to the sickle-shaped hook strip over a certain angle range and thus also interconnect sheet-pile walls extending at an angle other than 90.degree.. The angle stated is between 90.degree. and 135.degree.. The smaller of the hook strips has the same construction in this section as in the abovementioned corner section 20, so that during driving this hook strip can in fact slide out of the corresponding hook strip of the sheet pile to be connected.
For these reasons it is the rule to weld the abovementioned corner section 20 and the delta section with their smaller hook strips to one of the sheet piles and only then drive this assembly. This results in considerable labor for producing sheet piles.
DE-A1 3907348 discloses extruded connecting elements to which one can connect sheet piles of the abovementioned Larssen type but also the knob-and-claw type. The connecting elements have for this purpose differently shaped hook strips which, as indicated by FIGS. 4 to 6 therein, always require shape-mating with the locks of the sheet piles. Thus the same difficulties are given here as with the abovementioned corner section 20. However, the continuous casting production method permits more diverse shapes of the connecting strips and smaller dimensional tolerances to be achieved than with rolled sections.
It is common to all three aforementioned sections that they are only used in conjunction with one type of sheet-pile wall. The most frequent sheet piles are ones with so-called Larssen locks having on their two longitudinal edges hook portions corresponding approximately to the smaller hook strip of the connecting element according to abovementioned DE-OS 20 18 119. The dimensions of these hook strips in addition vary from manufacturer to manufacturer so that one can only use connecting elements and sheet piles from the same manufacturer.